The company announced Monday it's considering a $52.7 million project for a corporate Center for Excellence facility and the expansion of its Bombardier Flight Test Center as well as some new facilities.
The company says it expects to add 450 jobs over the next seven years in Wichita. That's over and above the 600 new jobs the company agreed to when it received incentives from the state of Kansas.
Bombardier says the expansion plans include a new aircraft delivery center at the entrance to the company's facility on Tyler, a new production flight center for testing new aircraft prior to delivery and a new paint facility for the Learjet 85 program.
But to move forward, the company is asking the city and county to put up $1 million each to build a new parking lot on Mid-Continent airport property. Learjet would then lease that lot back at market value, which should pay back the original investment and generate another $1.5 million.
City council members and county commissioners will discuss the issue at their next meetings, and both groups expect to get support needed for the project.
